USA - Multi-city holidays - Travel Agents

[Motorman74]

We're looking at booking a Multi-city trip to the states.

Current thoughts are New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, as all three are on the list of places to visit, but none of them have enough to interest us for more than a few days. We may be interested in adding one more city to take the total duration up to above 2 weeks.

We are looking at making the plans ourselves, but we have been discussing looking to see if a travel agent could do a decent job as a package and take some of the stress out of it.

Does anyone have any personal recommendations for agents who can arrange this sort of thing?

Our requirements are mostly that we want a bespoke service with flexibility, so being able to have as many days as we like in each location, being able to have business class flights internally/internationally when we want to.

Thanks in advance!

[Martyn76]

Trailfinders springs to mind, I'm sure there are other smaller firms out there that provide the same service but might be good to get an idea of price?

[Chucklehead]

f that were me, and flexibility was a key factor, then i would book my in/out and then handle the rest domestically once you're there.

Either a return ticket to NY or an open jaw, with flight in to NY and back from SF. NY to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to SF is an easy well trodden route with quite a few options. Either book a flexible ticket and just change as required, or book last minute when you know you want to go. Stay away from Spirit - they make Ryanair look like Emirates.

[wrencho]

We used Trailfinders to do SF and then on to Canada snowboarding in December. Would have no hesitation using them again.

Only thing I would say about your itinerary is its a lot of flying (NY to SF etc). We did four days in SF and that was probably enough (I have recommendations if you are interested) but there are loads of other places on that west coast that could probably fill two weeks, and then do the east coast separately.

[wrencho]

also, we did business class flights all round and there is absolutely no need for it on the internal legs unless you are taking extra luggage or a snowboard bag. Even then it might be less expensive to just book the luggage and pay extra. Zero perk to internal business class flights in my opinion.

[C5_Steve]

I've done similar a few times, although a friend who used to run a travel business booked it all for us it was all done as individual bookings and having now been I'd say do it yourself. Book everything separately and consider driving if you'd like to take things at your own pace.

I've done LA/Vegas/Sanfran in two weeks a few times, you can drive between all three and the drive from Sanfran to LA if you take the Pacific Coast Highway is beautiful. You can do the drive in about 6-7 hours or stop somewhere along the way. LA itself is probably only worth spending a few days in and you really want a car to get about, the usual tourist spots are fine to see if you've never been but once done I wouldn't be rushing back. It's very spread out as a city so you kind of have to commit to something big per day, eg if you want to visit the strip take the day and build in a tour of the hills and celeb houses. You've got the theme parks close by as well if that's your thing.

SanFran I felt was probably somewhere where'd I'd want to spend more time if I went back, if you want to visit Alcatraz book well in advance (like well before you leave!) as it gets booked out. There's a lot to see just outside the city as well like vineyards etc. The city itself felt most like London to me with it's different districts, the bay area etc. You get major temperature differences so wear layers, it could be in the 20's and you'll be freezing around the bay area. Muir woods was lovely (they filmed Planet of the Apes there) and it has some great places to eat. Very walkable, also very expensive.

Personally, I love Vegas. It is exactly what you expect, but more. Everything is bigger than you could imagine and I'm always in awe of it. I'm not a gambler at all and I've been I think 3 or 4 times now. Every hotel has some kind of attraction in it, you've got downtown Vegas as well now which has been heavily invested in over recent years and is much cheaper than the strip. Some amazing food places in the local area as well, you've also got the Grand Canyon of course. Well worth visiting, a lot of people recommend doing by helicopter from Vegas because even though it's expensive it's so much quicker. If you take a tour there that drives its literally the whole day gone with almost all of it just getting there and back.

Hope that helps, makes me want to go back again now!

[Motorman74]

Wow plenty of fantastic information there. Thanks everyone!

Trailfinders were one that we'd come across but had no idea whether they were any good.

Doing it ourselves is an option, some driving is an option (although I'll be doing all of it and the craft beer scene in the US is a big draw for me so it doesn't necessarily go well with driving), sticking to one coast is an option - we were aware it's 6ish hours from NY to LV hence we'd want nicer seats for that sort of trip. We could definitely look for another option for a west coast destination - Seattle appeals for example.

So far, despite having crossed the Atlantic more or less yearly for the last 21 years, we've only done 1 visit to the states, so plenty of things for us to discover there.

I'll definitely have a look some more at flexible flights for the return leg and doing it all when we are there.

[wrencho]

I haven't done coast to coast but quite a few internal US flights (up to three hours) and can confirm that the seats in BC and the back of the bus are indentical :-). You might get a meal or something and a smidge more leg room.

Personally I would stick to one coast and do Monterey, San Diego etc.

I was looking forward to the snowboarding far more than going to SF on our trip....I couldn't have been more blown away. Absolutely incredible place. Don't get sucked in by the talk of SF being a st hole. I wouldn't bother having a hire car there, they certainly seem to be a target for crime, but I never felt unsafe in SF and we walked everywhere including Mission, Tenderloin (albeit on the fringes).

Zero point paying a fortune for a swish hotel in my view either. We onlt used it as a base to sleep!

[belleair302]

Not so sure SF is currently the best place to go. Major issues about homelessness downtown, in the tourist areas and the visible issues about drugs is causing a major downturn in tourism. Moving down the coastline is a wise idea but you will be upset by what you see in SF currently.

[ro250]

As wrencho says, I'd also stick to one part of the country rather than starting one side and flying to the other. Up to you if you don't mind flying mid-holiday but I wouldn't.

Nowadays it's so easy to plan this yourself. Book your flights then plan your schedule booking hotels on sites like Expedia. We've done this a few times and has worked really well. I really don't know what help an agent could give - I really enjoy the planning and hotel choosing!

[Freakuk]

We've used Trailfinders numerous times when planning something a little out of the ordinary and even if you don't book through them you can get a lot of knowledge to enable you to look at options yourself.

Last time I was in NYC was before 9/11 so I would expect a lot has changed, but I'd imagine 3-4 days would cover it, I guess you're probably talking 5+ hours flight to SF/LV from there, so really you will lose the best part of a day in travel.

I love SF, you could easily spend 5 days plus there, as has been said book Alcatraz ASAP as you won't get a ticket on the day, also make sure you book the correct ferry as only one goes to Alcatraz, the rest just go around it in the bay. Last time I was there I did a movie tour on a school bus, probably one of the best things I've done and was a real treat, plus it was a way of getting to places I wouldn't of necessarily seen. Also, if you had car you could travel the coast (stunning) and maybe get to Monterey for example which is lovely.

You could drive to LV from there, and go through Yosemite, spend a day or two there would be my recommendation, Mono lake is impressive, or go via Tahoe/Reno, again a great drive.

LV is exactly what you would expect, it'll blow your mind, again probably 4-5 days there, but again if you have a car you could get to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, but the Canyon is a hell of a drive, much better getting one of the popular helicopter trips if your budget can stretch to that.

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

[Somebody]

+1 for Trailfinders for multi centre stays, as they also arrange transfers to/from airports.

Last one they sorted for us was Thailand last September. The hotels they suggested were spot on. We had to arrange a couple of internal flights ourselves as they did not have access to budget direct flights but instead suggested routing via BKK which extended the journey and waiting times. Just had to provide them with the flight numbers to complete the itinerary and transfers.

[ro250]

Freakuk said:

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

One-way fees still apply to car rental - they always have as they need to get their car back to the base. We're doing it this year and it's added about £300 to the rental price. As the OP is flying Business, I doubt this will matter too much. I enjoy driving in the US as you always see something along the way but appreciate some people prefer to fly.

When renting a car just make sure you don't have one in the major cities as you won't need it and you'll just be paying mega money to park it.

[Chucklehead]

ro250 said:

Freakuk said:

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

One-way fees still apply to car rental - they always have as they need to get their car back to the base. We're doing it this year and it's added about £300 to the rental price. As the OP is flying Business, I doubt this will matter too much

They don't need to get the car back to base, that's not the reason for the charge.

[djc206]

wrencho said:

also, we did business class flights all round and there is absolutely no need for it on the internal legs unless you are taking extra luggage or a snowboard bag. Even then it might be less expensive to just book the luggage and pay extra. Zero perk to internal business class flights in my opinion.

I’m inclined to disagree a bit. Not having to squeeze into 3 seats with two morbidly obese Americans is the only reason you need. Joking aside luggage fees can often be quite high with US airlines (except Southwest who let you take two free bags). Booking far enough in advance “domestic first” is often not much more than economy so worth entertaining the idea but not paying a huge premium for it. NY to LV though is a fairly long flight, I’d certainly be trying to do that in business/first if at all possible. Don’t forget to credit the miles to a U.K/European airlines loyalty programme. AA domestic first is generally 40 tier points per leg, up to 140 for the transcontinental routes.

[ro250]

Chucklehead said:

ro250 said:

Freakuk said:

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

One-way fees still apply to car rental - they always have as they need to get their car back to the base. We're doing it this year and it's added about £300 to the rental price. As the OP is flying Business, I doubt this will matter too much

They don't need to get the car back to base, that's not the reason for the charge.

Pretty sure it is - what it's for then?

[Chucklehead]

ro250 said:

Chucklehead said:

ro250 said:

Freakuk said:

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

One-way fees still apply to car rental - they always have as they need to get their car back to the base. We're doing it this year and it's added about £300 to the rental price. As the OP is flying Business, I doubt this will matter too much

They don't need to get the car back to base, that's not the reason for the charge.

Pretty sure it is - what it's for then?

I'm absolutely certain it isn't. It's a fee, a charge - something you want that they can provide and charge you for. It's an inconvenience for them, and does mean minor administrative work, so you pay.

[ro250]

Chucklehead said:

ro250 said:

Chucklehead said:

ro250 said:

Freakuk said:

One thing to consider If you do plan driving between states is check with Trailfinders on the current status, I was in the US in September and hiring a car and returning in a different state would have resulted in a hefty surcharge, it was cheaper to fly. I believe this is a post Covid issue so hopefully it's been put to bed now, but one to note if you do decide to drive.

One-way fees still apply to car rental - they always have as they need to get their car back to the base. We're doing it this year and it's added about £300 to the rental price. As the OP is flying Business, I doubt this will matter too much

They don't need to get the car back to base, that's not the reason for the charge.

Pretty sure it is - what it's for then?

I'm absolutely certain it isn't. It's a fee, a charge - something you want that they can provide and charge you for. It's an inconvenience for them, and does mean minor administrative work, so you pay.

Everywhere I read, it says it's to cover costs of returning but we can agree to disagree.

A friend rented a car in the US and got it waived as he agreed to take a particular car which they needed returning to where he happened to be going. I'll be dropping a car off about 1000 miles from where I pick it up this year, so unless they manage their fleets centrally, it'll mean that car needs to get back somehow which will cost money.

[Chucklehead]

They manage their fleets centrally.

It doesn't mean that they wouldn't try to get a car back to where it came from (to reduce administrative effort, or more frequently because the car is old/high miles/a liability), but there is no transporter that rocks up and takes each car back. The same reason SFO to LAX is charged a one way fee and LAX to SFO is often cheaper/free - everyone drives SFO to LAX, so encouraging cars back up to SFO is part of their fleet planning.

[2 GKC]

belleair302 said:

Not so sure SF is currently the best place to go. Major issues about homelessness downtown, in the tourist areas and the visible issues about drugs is causing a major downturn in tourism. Moving down the coastline is a wise idea but you will be upset by what you see in SF currently.

Not down by the wharf or union square.